Grooved Noodle Cross Section for Balanced Cooking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing grooved noodles fail to achieve a balanced texture between the center and surface regions during cooking, leading to either overcooked centers or undercooked surfaces, which impairs the desired 'al dente' texture.
Innovation Solution
The noodles feature four grooves along their longitudinal direction, arranged at 90° intervals with specific acute angles (12° to 33°) and depths (20% to 60% of the noodle diameter), creating a center region that accounts for 4% to 35% of the total area, ensuring balanced cooking and texture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If grooves are formed deeply in the noodle to reduce cooking time, then heat penetration is improved, but the noodle becomes entirely softened and loses good texture
Solution Approach 1:
The groove design creates different structural zones within the noodle cross-section. The groove walls and adjacent regions have different thicknesses, creating local variations in heat conduction paths. This allows the surface and groove regions to cook faster while the center maintains appropriate cooking time, achieving both reduced overall cooking time and preserved texture.
Solution Approach 2:
The groove structure segments the noodle cross-section into distinct regions with different thermal characteristics. By dividing the solid noodle material into zones separated by grooves, heat can penetrate more effectively along the groove interfaces while the solid portions maintain structural integrity, preventing complete softening.
2Temperature
If grooves are formed with varying width (wider at innermost part) to improve heat distribution, then heat penetration is enhanced, but the grooves remain insufficiently filled and texture becomes unbalanced
Solution Approach 1:
The groove cross-sectional parameters (width, depth, angle) are optimized to specific ranges. The groove width at the innermost part is controlled to be within 0.2-0.6 times the noodle diameter, and the acute angle is maintained at 12°-33°. These parameter changes ensure proper heat distribution while allowing sufficient material to fill the groove space during cooking, achieving both thermal performance and textural balance.
3Loss of time
If multiple grooves are added to reduce cooking time, then heat penetration is improved, but the center region becomes too small and texture balance is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The groove configuration creates an asymmetric heat distribution pattern that preserves the center region. By positioning grooves at specific locations and angles, the design allows efficient heat penetration to surfaces and groove regions while maintaining an adequate central core area that cooks more slowly, preserving the desired al dente texture in the center.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design allows for reduced cooking time while maintaining a well-balanced texture between the center and surface regions, achieving the desired 'al dente' firmness and preventing overcooking.
Implementation Method 1
heat would easily penetrate not only the vicinity of the surface but also the center region in the noodle during cooking
Data Source
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Figure 5
AI summary
Grooved noodles formed with four grooves along a longitudinal direction of the noodles and having a substantially circular configuration in cross section. The four grooves are arranged at intervals of 90° along a circumferential direction of the noodles and extend in a same rotational direction with respect to a center point in a cross section of the noodles. Each of the grooves includes a pair of sides opposing to each other and extending from an opening part of the groove toward an innermost part of the groove, a first opening end part located on one side of the pair of sides closer to the center point, and a second opening end part located on another side of the pair of sides farther from the center point. An acute angle formed between a straight line passing through the first opening end part and the innermost part and another straight line passing through the first opening end part and the center point in each of the grooves is 12° to 33°. A center region defined in a quadrilateral formed by four straight lines each passing through the innermost part and a middle point between the first opening end part and the second opening end part of a relevant groove has an area of 4% to 35% of a hypothetical area of the configuration when it is assumed that the four grooves are not provided. The noodles accounts for at least 85% of the center region.